Charles Southwell was born in London in 1814, the youngest
child of William Southwell, a noted Dublin piano-maker. Charles had no
fewer than 32 siblings, the children of his father's two previous
marriages. At a young age he was led to doubting Christianity by reading
Timothy Dwight's Calvinist writings. He became involved in radical and
anti-clerical movements, and opened a radical bookstore in London. In 1835
he joined the British Legion, which fought in support of the
constitutionalists in Spain. After his return to London in 1837 he
found work as a lecturer and was briefly associated with Robert
Owen's movement.

In 1841 Southwell established the Oracle
of Reason, thought to be the world's first atheistic
newspaper. An article attacking the Bible earned Southwell twelve
months' imprisonment for blasphemy and a fine of £100. George
Jacob Holyoake (1817-1906), later to become the leading figure of
the British secularist movement, assumed editorship of the Oracle
during Southwell's imprisonment.

On his release from prison Southwell resumed work as a lecturer and
founded two further newspapers, the Investigator and the Lancashire
Beacon. While remaining opposed to organised religion he modified
his tactics and ceased to identify with atheism, having become convinced
that it was futile to publicly debate abstract matters such as the
existence of a deity.

Philosophical and personal differences with Holyoake put an end to
Southwell's career in Britain. In April 1855 he sailed for
Melbourne, Australia, where he quickly became involved in public affairs
while supporting himself as a lecturer and Shakespearean actor. He
stood for public office but was obliged to withdraw when his British
freethought activities were exposed and held against him. After a
brief period as an actor in Sydney he moved to Auckland, New Zealand in
January 1856. There he founded the Auckland Examiner, a
weekly paper that attacked corruption and hypocrisy among local
dignitaries, politicians, and missionaries. Southwell died of
tuberculosis on 7 August 1860, aged only 46, and was buried in Auckland's
Grafton Cemetery.

The Difficulties of Christianity; stated in a series of letters
to the Rev. Hugh McNeile.Liverpool: Joseph Shepherd,
1849? 90pp.

Impossibility of Atheism Demonstrated, with hints to Nominal
Atheists, in a letter to the Freethinkers of Great Britain.London: J. Watson: c. 1852? 24pp.

Another 'Fourpenny Wilderness', in which may be found More Nails
for the Coffin of Nonsense called Atheism, More Hints to
Freethinkers, and a Reply to George Jacob Holyoake's "Examination
of Charles Southwell's 'Impossibility of Atheism Demonstrated'".London: no date, c. 1852?
24pp.

Supernaturalism Exploded in a Review of the Famous Six Nights
Controversy between Rev. Brewin Grant, Christian, and George Jacob
Holyoake, Secularist.London: J. Watson, 1853. 40
pp.

Superstition Unveiled: Abridged by the author from his 'Apology
for Atheism'London: Edward Truelove,
1854. 48pp.